How to Throw a Dr. Seuss Birthday Party - Introduction

Feel free to throw a Dr. Seuss Birthday Party on or around March 2nd, which was the day Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in 1904.  But your kids may want to use a Seuss theme when their own birthday rolls around.  In 2012 the Seuss movie featuring the Lorax will premiere in theaters adding to the fun of the day - which coincidentally is the author's 108th birthday.

In any case, below you will find fun ideas for bringing to life The Cat in the Hat, The Whos, Horton the Elephant, the Lorax and all of his other beloved characters.  For full details, see the posts below for invitations, decorations, activities, games, crafts, eats, treats and favors for your Dr. Seuss party.

How to Throw a Dr. Seuss Birthday Party - Invitations

A rhyming scheme is appropriate for your invitations.  If you don't think your poetry skills are up to the task, just find a relevant quote, and alter it to suit your purpose.  For example, Would you celebrate in our house?  Would you celebrate with a mouse? Your invitations can be as simple as printing your rhyme out in a fun font, along with party details, on red, yellow or aqua card stock. If you like, add some Seuss stickers.  Or depending on your computer skills, you could play with your favorite illustrations from one of Dr. Seuss' books.

How to Throw a Dr. Seuss Birthday Party - Decorations

When decorating for a Seuss party, stick to red, white, yellow and aqua with accents of stripes and polka dots. For some big impact with a small price tag, hang red and aqua tissue paper pompoms in your party room.  They are easy to make following these instructions.

You could also use red and aqua craft papers (available with scrap booking supplies) to make custom party hats for your guests.  Disassemble some store-bought hats and use them as templates to cut your craft paper to size.  Spray glue on the hats and then press the craft paper in place.  Let your glue dry and then staple the hats back into the original shape.

Other decorating ideas include red and yellow balloons, streamers, plates, napkins, cup and table cloths.  Also, clear jars of red, white, yellow and aqua candy will make a terrific centerpieces.

For additional sources of inspiration for your Dr. Seuss party decorations are in his books.  Flip through One Fish, Two Fish and you will be inspired to dangle crepe-paper fish from your ceiling.  Read Horton Hears a Who and you will want to make tiny bouquets of pink clovers for each place setting.  And lastly to honor the Lorax, use recycled paper products or reusable glass or cloth as much as possible to keep the party green.  

How to Throw a Dr. Seuss Birthday Party - Activities

Coloring pages are always a good idea for a party with kids.  They come in handy when you are preparing the party eats and treats.  Have on hand a good supply of crayons and markers, then print off the coloring pages of your choice.

A wide variety of Dr. Seuss coloring pages and other printables can be purchased here.  Apples 4 the Teacher has an excellent assortment of Seuss printables available at no charge.

A terrific after snack activity is to host a viewing of your child's favorite Seuss video.  This is a great way to calm the children down as they wait for their parents to pick them up.

How to Throw a Dr. Seuss Birthday Party - Games

Pin the Bow Tie on the Cat in the Hat - Draw or purchase a large poster of the Cat in the Hat, cut out one bow tie for each guest.  Blindfold the children, spin them around and let them attempt to place the bow in the right spot. The child placing his or her tie closest to the right spot wins!

Egg Toss -  First off to avoid a big mess, use those plastic eggs that contain candy treats at Easter time.  If you don't already have some on hand, you can buy them at your local party store or online.  To play the game, take your guests outside.  Have teams of two stand just a foot apart and tell them to gently toss one egg to each other.  The kids then step back each time they successfully catch the eggs.  Once a player drops a egg, that team is out.  the last team standing wins.

Cat in the Hat Relay Race - To set the stage read aloud the part of The Cat in the Hat where the cat tells the kids all the things he can hold one at a time.  Divide your guests into teams, line them up, and then place five identical objects in front of the first person in line (for example, use balls, plastic plates, toy cars, dolls, and a ping pong paddles).  The first runner will pick up one object, run to the goal and back with it, and then hand it to the next runner.  The next runner will have to run with two objects.  The game continues with each player taking one more object for his or her run, until one team has successfully all the objects back to his or her team.  Of course, if a player drops the items, team must start from scratch.

How to Throw a Dr. Seuss Birthday Party - Crafts

Building on the Dr. Seuss quote:  "Did you ever fly a kit in bed?"  from One Fish, Two Fish have your guests build a kite at your party.  An easy one can be made from a simple sheet of paper.  This kite is all your guests need to catch the March winds or fly a kite in bed!

To make the kite you will need to print this template on a red sheet of 8 1/2 x 11-inch paper - one for each guest.  To finish the project you will also need to have on hand scissors, clear tape, single-hole punch, twine (Martha Stewart has a red and white twine that would be perfect for this project), stapler with a supply of staples and 5-foot-length of curling ribbon for each guest to use as the kite tail.

Step One:

Cut out the kite from the template and make the creases as shown.  Reinforce the side points with tape as shown, then punch a hole in each point.

Step Two:

Make the kite harness, tie ends of a two-foot length of twine to the holes.

Step Three:

For the kite string, tie one end of a length of twine to the harness.  Make the loop loose so that the string slides easily along the harness.  Make the string about 8 feet long for running.  For a high flying kite, use a longer string.

Step Four:

Staple the ribbon tail to the bottom of each kite.

If the weather and time permits, let the kids go outside to try the kites.  If not, send them home with their finished kite as a souvenir of the party.

How to Throw a Dr. Seuss Birthday Party - Eats

The obvious choice for a Seuss Party is to serve green eggs and ham.  A twist on this theme is to make ham sliders with a side of deviled eggs.  The sliders are easy to make.  On your favorite slider buns, place a slice of deli ham topped with a slice of white cheddar cheese.  Place all the sliders on a cookie sheet, cover tightly with foil and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree (F) oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and ham is warm enough to eat. For an added Seussical touch add green food coloring to the yolk mixture before inserting it back into the hard-boiled egg.

To expand on the Seuss theme make a cheese tree from the book Fox in Socks by sticking cheese cubes onto a Stryofoam cone with toothpicks.  Finish off the meal with fish-shaped crackers in fish bowls to honor of Dr. Seuss' most beloved character The Cat in the Hat.

For your beverage Pink Yink Ink Drink (something the Yink drinks in One Fish, Two Fish) is a must!  An easy pink drink is pink lemonade.  It can be made from scratch or purchased at your local grocery store.  Looking for more ideas?  Check out the Green Egg and Ham Cookbook, which has more recipes inspired by Seuss stories.